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    Einstein's Relativity and the Quantum Revolution: Modern Physics for Non-Scientists, 2nd Edition (Transcript)
    Einstein's Relativity and the Quantum Revolution: Modern Physics for Non-Scientists, 2nd Edition (Transcript)
    Einstein's Relativity and the Quantum Revolution: Modern Physics for Non-Scientists, 2nd Edition (Transcript)
    Ebook510 pages10 hours

    Einstein's Relativity and the Quantum Revolution: Modern Physics for Non-Scientists, 2nd Edition (Transcript)

    By Richard Wolfson

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    About this ebook

    Einstein's Relativity and the Quantum Revolution: Modern Physics for Non-Scientists, 2nd Edition is the companion book to the audio/video series of the same name. It contains a full transcript of the series as well as the complete course guidebook which includes lecture notes, bibliography, and more.

    About this series:

    In recent years, cutting-edge telescopes, satellite imaging, and unmanned spacecraft have led to a fascinating series of discoveries that have changed our picture of the Sun and the family of objects that orbit it—including Earth. This new perspective has grown out of many intriguing findings such as these: The reclassification of Pluto as a dwarf planet, one of countless icy bodies—and not even the largest—in the outer solar system The 2005 landing of the Huygens probe on Saturn's moon Titan, which revealed a bizarre world where liquid methane acts like water does on Earth: falling as rain, carving channels in the landscape, and collecting in lakes One of the largest radiation and particle storms from the Sun ever recorded, which blasted interplanetary space in 2003 and offered a vivid demonstration of the ferocity of space weather The detection since the 1990s of several hundred planets orbiting other stars, allowing us to compare for the first time our solar system with other planetary systems New Frontiers: Modern Perspectives on Our Solar System is a visually stunning and richly detailed investigation of what we know about the solar system today. Illustrated with insightful diagrams, amazing computer animations, and scores of spectacular images from telescopes and spacecraft, these 24 lectures show you a new and exciting way to view our celestial neighborhood—all under the guidance of astrophysicist and top astronomy educator, Dr. Frank Summers from the Space Telescope Science Institute (STScI). Welcome to the 21st-Century Solar System Often cited as the most profound change in our view of the solar system, the Copernican revolution of the 16th century proposed the philosophical shift that Earth and the planets orbit the sun instead of the universe revolving around Earth, as appeared to be the case from our vantage point. But Dr. Summers, whose work at the STScI's Office of Public Outreach presents the findings of the Hubble Space Telescope and developments in general astronomy to the public through various media and educational outlets, suggests another candidate for the biggest change in our views. I think the space age is the most important epoch, he says. It brought us new ways to observe the solar system in more wavelengths with bigger telescopes, new ways to analyze with better data and faster processing, and also a new way to explore, both with robots and with our own eyes. Remodeling the Solar System Not only does New Frontiers allow you to see the solar system with fresh eyes, it also offers you a new model to serve as an organizing guide. Gone is the familiar diagram you find in many old reference books depicting the Sun and nine planets forming a neat, straight line. Dr. Summers provides key points as to why this perspective is so outdated: A straight-line alignment of the planets occurs only every three quadrillion years—600,000 times the present age of our solar system! The distances between planets and their relative sizes compared to the Sun are wildly out of scale. Most importantly, there is so much more to the solar system than just these 10 objects. You discover what Dr. Summers, an expert astrophysicist who headed the development of exhibits for the opening of the American Museum of Natural History's Rose Center for Earth and Space, calls the 21st-century solar system. He suggests that, instead of a straight line, the solar system is best seen as a bulls-eye with six concentric circles, each of which represents the six families of objects in our solar system. Working outward from the center, you have the following alignment: The Sun: The only star in o
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherThe Great Courses
    Release dateFeb 7, 2000
    ISBN9781565856127
    Einstein's Relativity and the Quantum Revolution: Modern Physics for Non-Scientists, 2nd Edition (Transcript)

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